It's crazy how old this song is and people are still examining it to this day

James Hetfield used to be an amateur drummer so he said he likes to be very percussive, wanting to play "drums on guitar" and you can tell in Master of Puppets

“Because James has that crazy wrist of steel...” 😎

Many guitarists have no idea how hard this song actually is to play properly, and at that speed.

1:39 yes, I will work all the way up to "the D" master

No joke this song was the reason I started playing the guitar and when I master master of puppets I’ll feel complete, thanks for all the extra details man :3

interesting fact about the switching fingers technique, only James does that, Kirk stays with the index

My life has been a lie.

Hetfield plays it wrong.

How could anyone miss adding the F note in the intro part? It's the greatest riff of this album ffs.

I remember I started playing guitar because of Metallica and I watched countless videos on James Hetfield and his playing styling, that I honestly thought down picking was the way you were supposed to play everything at all times. I later found out about alternate picking was a thing and I had trouble learning it because I was just used to playing everything down picking but all those years of down picking have served me well thanks to Metallica!

And it's settled. I'm getting an SG this week. I have been kicking the idea around for a little while but this video pushed me over the edge. 2018 Gibson SG Standard, here I come.

I waited 11:50 minutes just to hear him playing the entire song perfectly and he just ended up the video brutally without sentiments! Arrrrrrrrrr

I'm in awe of how well Hetfield got these details right writing this. They really do add that extra oomph to this song.

That tone is really accurate to the album version

3:29 For All His Haters

*R I G H T H A N D 1 0 0*

Seriously thank you, you put so much into your videos and it really does help. Imo you're the best guitar teacher on youtube.

This is fantastic. Love the intricate details that really make a difference. I'm now addicted to your 'levels' of songs. Great tutorials

The way you speak and make your points is really excellent. You're modest, humble and knowledgeable. I really enjoyed this video in particular and i can't wait to explore your other videos and learn loads.

Adding the F note you were talking about at 4 1/2 minutes is how I learned to play it from tab. Most of the other details I didn't know about. But if I'm listening through headphones or playing it myself, those little things make all the difference. Great video. Good information.

Always love watching these videos, you teach somethings that most online teachers might not have noticed for songs, also noticed you modded the stop bar and bridge with some kind of whammy bar, never seen one like that on a SG before!

Lots of details i’ve missed you’ve shared! Thanks

My morning coffee is best enjoyed viewing The-Art-of-Guitar. Thanks again man :D

I don't even play guitar and I still know all about every single one of those extra E notes

Great vid - the tip on the main rhythm section really helped me tighten that up. Thanks very much.

You're awesome! I love these videos you do!

I don't even play electric guitar anymore, but come back to this video just because of your ways of teaching. It's so easy to understand what you're saying that I think even someone that never played guitar would understand.

4:36 Doom soundtrack 4:44 Master of Puppets

Dude I just wanted to thank you for sharing all the knowledge and the love for this beautiful instrument!!! I have seen many videos and not going to lie learned some all BS aside since I started watching your videos everything seems so much easier... I actually memorize all steps!!! Thanks again!! ~Joe ~

Fantastic video! Details that changed the way I play music for the better. Please, make more videos like this

You, sir, are a perfectionist. This sort of detail helps hundreds, if not thousands of people learn what quality requires. Not necessarily for playing Master of Puppets. It helps people learn how to inject quality into mediocrity. Makes everybody better for it. Thank you.

As a starter I adopted the James picking style and the power chord technique, It just came natural to use my pinky for power chords. And I also find with his picking technique you should play often because I went on a few month dry spell not playing and my wrist was pussified

I love these videos of yours. I love details and this is great

That preverse lick that people tab out wrong is a great example of why you should learn to pick things up by ear and through watching others. Online tabs, even those done “professionally” are almost always inaccurate in some way or another. Develop your ear and learn your craft. It’s soooooooo much more rewarding in the long run

OMG. Watching this video was such a nice surprise. I'm a self-taught guitar player and also pretty meticulous. As a huge Metallica fan, I ought to pay very much attention even to the smallest details in every song I play. I'm glad to see I play EXACTLY like shown in the video. Amazing tutorial! 🤘🏻

Almost 200k subs! Congratulations!

I feel so good that I already did some of these...this video is awesome! Thanks man.

Great guitar tone man. Really informative video too. James is a grinder of a guitar player man he is hacking at the strings when he plays. Incredible to see and hear. One of the best riff and rhythm players ever.

On the Cliff 'em All recording of this, even Kirk plays the intro alternate picking! That's how brutal it is!! He eventually got up to speed though.

I dare you to show number 1 to Petrucci

You sure are a sucker for details, eh? Awesome work as always. I'm still a beginner and while I can hear missing or wrong notes in my playing myself, it's a whole different story with correct fingerwork. With these videos you not only help me get a more authentic sound but also show me new techniques to play more efficiently. Thanks!

Thank you! Great video! need to watch this about 2000 times

Great advice. I’ll try it that way.

If you are on the level of being able to play this, most should be on the level of knowledge and listening to know most of the points he mentioned imo. Otherwise, just listen before you play.

Yo this has changed the way I play this song completely! Thank you King ❤️

Mike, thank you so much ive picked up a lot from your video. You are defdintely great teacher and super tallented. Rock on!

How to make Master of Puppets harder than sh*t: the tutorial.

Ahhh thank you my man; really nice to see those attributes and characteristics thought out and broken down. It what makes that song.... well..... that song in definition lol

ive finally nailed master of puppets and i give half the credit to you for such details on this song and downpicking. thank you man you are a great teacher

Thanks for this, I just covered this with my band but I wasn't playing three open e's at the pre chorus or chorus, but now I am so thanks

Beautifully well done, I originally learned the riff this way but tried to switch when I saw a tab book saying I was doing it wring. Guess I should watch how metallica performs, more closely

DUDE! You’re Diving Deep! i taught myself this tune 20 yrs ago on 6-string & it still amazes me how much better/more accurate i “could” be playing it. Thank You for shedding light & Spreading the Gospel, Brother! it obviously takes a village for one to “Master” this “One!” Cheers!

Hi Mike. Awesome teaching. I've only watched half this video and I was so much liking it I paused it to sub you. I've been playing bass for 30 years but just a couple of years ago started getting into metal power chording on (my son's) electric. Just started teaching myself lead solo (Comfortability Numb to my ultimate goal of learning Highway Star). It's quite a challenge and It's indeed a very different experience going from nice big comfy bass strings to those tiny razor wire G, B and Es on the electric I must say. Cheers Bernard Melbourne, Australia

@The-Art-Of-Guitar As said before you are a wonderful teacher and I really appreciate this guitar lesson. I too am all about the details. I learned a lot from watching this!

All the time I thought I am the lame one, because I can only down stroke this song :D

A master teaching master of Puppets 🖤🤘🎸

Love the details! They make all the difference for me.

You got everything spot on, man! You even bested me on the G "in-between" notes in the chorus. I didn't know that was actually a power chord - I always played it as a palm muted single note. There are a couple of things that some layered guitars do on the album mix in the intro that are probably the cause of some of the misconceptions about the riff. Such as an E6 power chord at the beginning, and two E5 power chords following Cliff's bass. Cliff's playing on that recording is also very surprising. The first time I heard the song's multi-tracks I was extremely surprised by all of these details. For instance, in the chorus where you play the G power chord "in-between" notes, Cliff actually plays open A notes for those. As well as plenty of other little (and big) details that are not easily heard in the album mix.

Jokes on you, im a bassist and already use my pinky for all powerchords

Played this song wrong for so long thank you so much

This video was very helpful. Will be leaving a like definitely

Nice Video! Specially liked the fingerset for the prechorus. Thx for that!

6:35 including Metallica themselves in nearly all of their live performances. It drives me nuts.

damn, this guitar is gorgeous

Quick enjoyed this video. A lot of finer details that you mentioned are quite interesting and I'll be correcting my technique when I get home to make sure I am playing right. :D Thanks for the great video, as always!

Very good! Quick and smooth.

I’m glad to see that what I learned originally was right! Still haven’t ever gotten to full speed on this one.... Great video, dude!

Nice! I should try it the right way then! 🤘🏻

Thank you for this video! You helped a lot.

I use the same picks as you! Good choice, I like the theoretical/style lessons you have like this! It is very knowledgeable and accurate,I can tell you actually watch the bands play the songs whereas most people play this and Iron Man by Black Sabbath wrong. I dig the channel dood keep on rocking!

3:29 to all the haters out there

5:50 these fifth chords are actually in octave (if that is the correct term) how Kirk plays them. Those slides starting from E-string 3rd fret to 5th and on D-string from 5th to 7th fret skipping that A-string.. Cheers :)

Awesome teaching! Ty!

Very interesting thanks for posting this!

For the very beginning Kirk plays the E5 but James plays the higher octave E power chord

I only played by downstrokes for years as I learned to play copying early Metallica in about '91. I'm happy to see I got all of this right and the Metallica tab books were legit! It was only when I got into Megadeth did I learn what real guitar playing was though! No more downstrokes only lol..

great video as usual!

That actually helped me out quite a bit... thanks for sharing that technique and info

awesome

The intro riff was the first riff I ever learned and it helped my downpicking so damn much, it's always come very easily to me.

Best guitar channel out there. Such a chill guy

Great video! I grabbed my guitar immediately after watching it!

that was fantastic! How long did that take to figure out? Right on man!

Holy fuck that guitar tine is monsterous. all the bite and less gain than I have to use to get this heavy. what amp/pedals did you use for this sound, please do tell

I pretty much do everything you revealed. Feels good to know I was doing it right. Thx for the video.

Thank you for the video Mike. This helped me I usually play down strokes and mix some alternate picking in my playing.

Nice Lesson! This is definately one of those songs that every guitarist thinks he can play, but the reality is that very few of us can actually play it correctly (myself included) I’ve played for 25 years and I still can’t match the pace of this song. I usually feel like my right arm is going to fall off by about the 4 minute mark lol

4:09 Jaws

This video basically shows me the whole lotta benefits that come from learning bass before picking a guitar. All these „missing notes” for example are a necessity to play with bass, and I’m simply used to them and play them on the guitar. I love how learning few instruments let you improve on others

A much needed video!

Agghh the constant downstrokes are just killing my wrist. Its relentless. Gonna need a ton of practice to develop my wrist to able to do that consistently. Hat tip to James H. Metallica just don't seem to do alternate picking at all. Maybe it just isn't Metal enough for them. So far, everything that I've learnt and practice has been all about developing alternate picking.

Such a feeling of relief when you already play with all of these. The only issue currently is stamina when strumming. I think I’m holding my pick incorrectly and strumming with the wrong parts of my arm/wrist. Has anyone got any tips?

Another great vid, from a great teacher!

That was one song I learned right out of the book. Thanks for these few different techniques, I would've never thought to change in my playing.

I think the only one I don’t do is the 1st fret on the intro riff. I just pick the open E twice after the second fret. On the chorus riff I’ve always used my index and middle finger on the F#-G hammer on, using the little finger just feels wrong

I remember when I wrote this song, James was having such a hard time but i made him practice and practice till he got it right.

Thanks for all your hard work Mike, can't wait to jam out with you one day!

Thank you, this video helped a lot!

I can’t play master of puppets as is so I couldn’t even do this! Edit: knew the first two, thought those were obvious Edit: also knew the hit the f note pne